S&P Affirms JeffCo Sewers

Standard & Poor’s last week affirmed its C rating on $2.3 billion of Jefferson County’s sewer system revenue warrants.

The agency removed the rating from CreditWatch with negative implications, but said the long-term outlook is negative.

“The C rating continues to reflect our view of the fiscal stress of the sewer system,” said analyst James Breeding.

The warrants were placed on CreditWatch Nov. 11, two days after the county filed for bankruptcy, due to the potential for non-payment of debt service.

Breeding said that scheduled payments on the county’s fixed-rate sewer warrants were made on Feb. 1.

“The negative outlook reflects the continued uncertainty and negative rating potential due to the recent bankruptcy filing,” he said.

S&P does not rate $792.4 million of the county’s sewer warrants that are in variable-rate mode.

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